Toy drum



R. H. HIERS Oct. 31, 1933.

TOY DRUM Filed April 5, 1953 INVENTOR.

RALPH Eli/5R5 BY W9 M ATTORNEYS.

Patentecl Oct. 31, 1933 PATENT OFFICE TOY DRUM Ralph H. Hiers,Granville, Mass, assignor to Noble & Cooley 00., Granville, Mass, acorporation of Massachusetts Application April 5, 1933. Serial No.664,561

3 Claims.

This invention relates to toy drums or similar percussion instruments ofthe type in which an internal mechanism is provided to produce a seriesof taps against the inside of the drum head. The major problem inconstructing a toy of this character is to produce a satisfactoryproduct at the lowest possible cost, since the main market lies in chainstores and similar establishments dealing in inexpensive merchandise.This problem is becoming increasingly important in View of generallydeclining pricesand purchasing power. Recently the general reduction ofcommodity price levels has left these prior devices in a position wheretheir relatively high cost of manufacture was fast rendering themunsalable. A need has therefore arisen for an operating mechanism whichis simpler in construction, easier of assembly, and less expensive inthe parts required. It is to the production of such a mechanism that myinvention relates.

A percussion operating mechanism of the prior art type will be brieflydescribed so that the nature of the problems solved by thepresentinvention may be better understood. In the prior device a shaftis journaled in spaced relation to the drum head or heads and carries across piece on the ends of which hammers in the nature of small buttonsare loosely mounted. A string is secured at one end to the shaft, andafter being wound helically upon the shaft passes out through a hole inthe drum body and terminates in a handle or button by which it may begrasped and which prevents it from being drawn back into the interior ofthe drum. Finally, a helical spring is mounted on the shaft, attached toit at one end, and anchored to the drum body at the other. When thestring is pulled and then released to be wound up by the spring theshaft is rotated and the hammers are thrown out against the drum heads.In this construction there 'are three points of anchorage to therotating shaft, where the cross member, the string, and the helicalspring are coupled to it. This multiplicity of anchoring points ofcourse increases the cost,

and it is one object of the present invention to reduce the number ofanchoring points to one. A further characteristic of the prior mechanismwas that the pull on the string exerted an unbalanced pull on the shaft,requiring a large shaft to withstand the strain. In the constructionwhich I have invented the load on the shaft is at all time substantiallybalanced, and a very small and consequently inexpensive shaft can beused with no danger of bending.

The present invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a drum embodying my invention, one drum headbeing partially broken away to illustrate the mechanism; and

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

The invention has been shown as applied to a small two headed drum, butcan obviously be applied to a single headed drum or tambourine, or toany similar percussion instrument. The body of the drum is shown at 10,consisting of a metal hoop or ring with beaded edges 11 to retain thedrum head or heads 12. Inside the drum body are diametrically oppositeblocks 13, which may be made of wood and may each be secured to the drumbody by a pair of nails 14. A hole is drilled in each block into whichthe ends of a slender rodor shaft 15 may fit. The blocks thus serve asinexpensive bearings in which the shaft may rotate. Secured to anintermediate point of the shaft 15, preferably by spot welding, is awire cross-piece 16 having each end formed into a loop 17. Before theseloops are closed the eye 18 of a button 19, of the general type used forshoes, is slipped over each end of the wire so that 30 when the loopsare bent into their final formation the buttons will be loosely retainedupon the ends of the cross member.

The end of a string or cord 20 is formed into a loop 21, which isslipped over one end of the 5. cross-piece, thereby anchoring the cordto the shaft 15 without the necessity of providing a separate fasteningmeans. The cord is wound in a helix around the shaft 15 and passes outthrough an eye 22 formed in the drum body 1 0. 9() A button 23 fastenedto the end of the cord serves both as a handle and as a retainer toprevent the cord being drawn back into the drum. A rubber band 24 in theusual commercial endless form is slipped over both arms of 5 thecross-piece as indicated at 25. The band is then carried around theshaft 15 in a direction opposite to that taken by the cord 20, and hasits outer end secured to the drum body. In the case shown this latteranchorage is provided by a U-shaped wire clip 26, passed through theband and then through a hole 27 formed in the drum body. With its endsbent in opposite directions as shown at 28 this clip forms a permanentand simple anchorage for the band.

If the cord 20 ispulled the rod 15 will be rotated by the unwinding ofthe cord. At the same time the band 24 will be wound up, subjecting therod to an increasing torque which will act to rotate the rod in theopposite direc- 110 tion when the pull on the cord is released. It willbe observed that while the sideways pull of the band on the rodincreases as the band is wound up, this pull is exactly counterbalancedby the equal and opposite pull of the cord. If the pull on the cord isvaried the pull of the band automatically adjusts itself to the sameamount by a compensating rotation of the shaft. The rod, being thusfreed of any forces tending to bend it, can be made very small, with aconsequent reduction in cost. A further reduction in cost is permittedby the functioning of the cross-piece as an anchorage for both the cordand the rubber band, the anchoring of the latter to the cross piece in asimple manner being made possible by the use of an endless band which isinherently in loop formation and which does not require any knots forsecuring it.

The manner of use of the device will be apparent to one familiar withthe prior devices, although the present mechanism will be somewhatsmoother and easier in operation due to the balancing of the forcestending to flex the rod. As the rod rotates the buttons 19 will be a?thrown outwardly by centrifugal force, and will strike in rapidsuccession against the drum head so as to produce a roll. The rhythm canbe controlled by the proper rapid manipulation of the cord 20.

What I claim is:

1. In a percussion instrument of the character described and comprisinga drum body and one or more drum heads, a shaft journaled at oppositeends in the drum body. a cross-piece 3 secured to the shaft intermediateits length, drum head striking hammers secured loosely to the ends ofthe cross-piece, a cord secured to the shaft, wound hellcally thereon,and passing to an exposed position, and spring means sc- 0 cured to thedrum body and including a portion wound upon the shaft in a directionsubstantially opposite to that taken by the cord so that when the cordis pulled the spring will be tensioned while the bending forces on theshaft will be substantially balanced.

2. In a percussion instrument of the character described and comprisinga drum body and one or more drum heads, a shaft journaled at oppositeends in the drum body, a cross-piece secured to the shaft intermediateits length, drum head striking hammers secured loosely to the ends ofthe cross-piece, a cord having a loop formed in one end encircling thecross-piece, the cord being wound helically on the shaft, and passing toan exposed position, and an endless rubber band anchored to the drumbody and looped over the cross-piece so as to be wound upon the shaftwhen the latter is turned by the unwinding of the cord.

3. In a percussion instrument of the character described and comprisinga drum body and one or more drum heads, a pair of blocks secured to theinside of the drum body and provided with aligned journal holes, a shaftextending across the interior of the drum body and Journaled in saidholes, a wire cross-piece spot welded to the shaft intermediate the endsof the shaft and 100 having its ends formed into loops, drum headstriking hammers provided with eyes loosely retained by said loops, acord having a loop formed in one end encircling the cross-piece, thecord being wound helically on the shaft and passing out through a holein the drum body, a retaining button secured to the exposed end of thecord, an endless rubber band looped over both arms of the cross-pieceand passing around the shaft in the opposite direction to that taken bythe cord, and a clip holding the band to the drum body, the band andcord extending away from the shaft in substantially opposite directions,so that when the cord is pulled the bending forces on the shaft will besubstantially 115 balanced.

RALPH H. HIERS.

